Nat Bromhead
Young Aussie Kaden Groves has won his first stage of a WorldTour race, the 23yo taking Stage 2 of the Volta a Catalunya the day after Michael Matthews’ stunning opening day win.
Groves was led to victory by Matthews, ‘Bling’ helping guide his teammate into position inside the final kilometre.
Matthews swung off in the closing metres and Groves out-sprinted a quality field to take the victory.
Groves said the run to the finish was difficult, with echelons splitting the bunch.
“Michael and I were in the front and a lot of other strong teams like Movistar and Jumbo,” he said.
“We had Simon out the back and they were using that to their advantage to maybe put some time into him, so it was pretty full gas. I liked this stage, I picked this stage out to get the victory and I can’t believe I’ve got it and maybe later in the week we can have another sprint.”
Matthews On A Roll
Still on a high from his opening day victory, Matthews said the team had been fighting for the wins for a long time. The 31-year-old backed up his fourth place Milan-San Remo finish on Saturday by repeating his 2019 Volta Catalunya stage victory.
“To be a part of Kaden’s first WorldTour victory is something special,” he said. ”We were close on the last stage of Tirreno, but just fell short, and today we were able to pull it off. I think with me winning yesterday and being able to do a leadout in the leader’s jersey and my teammate winning, what more can we ask for?”
2022 Volta a Catalunya Stage 2 Top 3
1. Kaden Groves 4:44:28
2. Phil Bauhaus ST
3. Hugo Hofstetter ST
2022 Volta Catalunya General Classification
1. Jonas Hvideberg 8:31:28
2. Michael Matthews +0:01
3. Hugo Hofstetter +0:07
